West Ham United's Winston Reid and Crystal Palace's Cameron Jerome compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match at Upton Park, London.

Firstly the tribute to the late Dylan Tombides was truly moving; moments such as that really do put everything into perspective and captivate the human soul.

The performance at Upton Park in the defeat to Crystal Palace however lacked everything needed to win football matches at this level.

I felt in the first half West Ham were the better side; they dominated possession for large periods with Mark Noble pulling the strings as usual, however that lack of cutting edge which has been an incredibly frustrating facet of West Ham’s play this season was there for one and all too see yet again.

The problem still remains that West Ham are far too one dimensional; we either hoof the ball up to Andy Carroll in the hope that he will knock it down/flick it on or we get the ball wide and whip crosses into the box in the hope that Carroll will thunder a header into the back of the net. If neither of these tactics work we simply have no alternative, no plan b, no nothing.

Whilst the home side at least threatened on occasion during the first half, during the second, however it was all to easy for Palace, the ‘pressure’ West Ham exerted on the South Londoners lacked the kind of quality needed to break down the Eagles’ stoic defence.

There were too many average performances on Saturday afternoon, strange when you consider that the break to Dubai a few weeks back was meant to refresh and reinvigorate this Hammers squad.

Yet it was the visitors who looked fresher and whilst in my opinion their penalty winner was a bit soft (Jerome showing Jarvis how to make the most of any contact in the box) we simply didn’t do enough especially in the second half to warrant anything from the game.

I still find it incredible that despite the lack of quality we possess in the attacking third someone like Ravel Morrison could just be farmed out to QPR; the home side were crying out for his pace, dynamism, trickery and goal threat.

West Ham will stay up this season, seven points clear of the drop zone with just three games remaining virtually guarantees it. In the summer however a major clear out will be needed because this current squad simply isn’t good enough, especially in the final third.

As for the manager…I understand those that want him out, tickets at Upton Park aren’t cheap and more often than not the football has been pretty dire this season. However as history tells us sack Sam Allardyce at your peril because you could well slip into league below; Blackburn, Bolton and Newcastle fans can attest to this.

The tragic death of Dylan Tombides puts everything into perspective and I feel the best tribute of all; is how fans of all clubs could put aside rivalries and tribalism and come together for this inspirational young man; taken from us too soon.